Civil society institutions are an important factor in the further development of the country

A stable operating system is being formed in Uzbekistan, ensuring the supremacy of the Basic Law, in which not the people serve the state bodies, but the state bodies should serve the people. It was with the approval of this principle that the formation of an active civil society began. 

Today in Uzbekistan there are over nine thousand non-governmental non-profit organizations (NGOs) that perform important tasks to protect the rights and legitimate interests of individuals and legal entities, democratic values in the field of social life, culture and education. 
In recent years, large-scale work has been carried out to support NGOs and other civil society institutions, to improve the legal framework governing relations in the sphere. In order to bring these measures to a qualitatively new level, as well as to determine the prospects for the development of a fair civil society in the country for the near and medium term, the Concept of the Development of Civil Society in 2021-2025 has been approved.
It is noteworthy that the innovation of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the new edition is a separate chapter XIII "Institutions of civil society". Article 69 clearly defines what constitutes the basis of civil society: "Civil society institutions, including public associations and other non-governmental non-profit organizations, citizens' self-government bodies, mass media, form the basis of civil society. The activities of civil society institutions are carried out in accordance with the law."
For the first time in the history of the country, the concept of "civil society" is reflected in the Basic Law. This has strengthened the legal regulation of the activities of civil society institutions.
According to philosophical postulates, civil society should correspond to such characteristics as a high level of morality, legal and general culture, material well-being of people, the ability to independently solve problems facing society (including the protection of human rights and freedoms) both through legal interaction with the state, and through the use of various public institutions created on the basis of the law; possession of advanced knowledge, technologies and production.
At the same time, the activities of state structures should be aimed at providing each person with independence, freedom of self-realization, search for an individual trajectory of their own life path in accordance with the system of life values and preferences chosen by themselves.  
It is known that a full-fledged civil society can be when it is in a state of equal partnership and high-quality legal interaction with the state, which is achieved in the process of painstaking creative work. Not only scientists, lawyers, specialists in the field of law, but also ordinary citizens of the republic took part in the process of drafting the Basic Law, showing interest in the meaning and essence of constitutional changes.  
Such initiatives and proposals of citizens indicate increased political activity, their involvement in the reform processes, an understanding of the importance of harmonizing the Basic Law with modern realities, the essence of successive transformations. 
This once again confirms the fact that effective dialogue with the people, openness and responsibility of officials to society remain the priority of state policy. This initiative of the head of state has found its development in the issues of clearly fixing the obligation to conduct a dialogue with the public when making decisions on the most important issues of socio-economic life of the country that are of particular interest to the population.
It should be understood that civil society is an arena not only for the real embodiment of individual rights and freedoms, but also for the responsible performance of duties, including legal ones. The aforementioned amendment to the Constitution will be the responsibility of both the people and the State. 
 Civil society is a necessary intermediary between an individual and the government. For example, free media monitor the abuses of those in power and attract attention to them. Social movements help to express their wishes, to achieve solutions to pressing problems from the state.
Thus, fixing the tasks of civil society institutions in the Basic Law will allow us to determine what kind of society we are forming and what goals we are facing. In turn, civil society institutions will receive a constitutional legal status with the prospect of further improvement of their activities.
It should be noted that it is the head of state who initiates further support for programs and projects of public organizations representing the interests of the general population.
In important fundamental programs, in particular in the Development Strategy of the New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026, the issues of strengthening the social partnership of state bodies with civil society institutions, the implementation of effective public control, as well as improving the legal framework governing this area have not been ignored. 
The legal norms introduced in relation to public associations and other non-governmental non-profit organizations, citizens' self-government bodies, and the mass media will contribute to further increasing the social activity of the population, awareness of national identity, the growth of political culture, and the formation of democratic views.
Oksana Khushvaktova.
Leading employee of the Center for the Analysis of Democratic Processes.